Bai Luan took Stelle to The Herta's Office first to report their presence.
The newly developed simulated universe dlc—"gold and gears"—was waiting for this experienced Chief Tester.
Bai Luan placed the priority of testing the simulated universe ahead of filming Funny videos.
Bai Luan could still distinguish which of the two matters was serious business and which was entertainment.
Of course, Bai Luan had a more secret reason for this arrangement—he wanted to pull Stelle into filming some Funny videos related to "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure".
However, Stelle had not encountered this work yet, so he needed to set aside some time for her to familiarize herself with the original work and feel that unique JoJo Aura.
As everyone knew, Bai Luan and Stelle both had an almost obsessive pursuit when filming Funny videos—striving for maximum fidelity.
They genuinely treated the matter of making viral content as serious business.
To achieve the best imitation effect, carefully studying the original work beforehand was essential.
If you're going to use a meme from a work, you must have read the original first.
Coincidentally, Stelle could use the intervals during and after testing the simulated universe to read the manga, killing two birds with one stone.
By the time she completes the simulated universe testing mission, she will probably be done reading the manga.
At that time, the content they could film would be much richer...
Bai Luan was already starting to sketch the scenes in his mind.
They could start by taking a set of classic JoJo Pose Photos with Stelle.
Given the photography skills of the Herta Puppet, the resulting Photos would definitely have great tension.
Besides static JoJo Poses, they could also recreate those famous scenes etched into the DNA.
For example, the storyboard composition of Jotaro facing Dio, or the profound scene of Drinking Together in the Snow... He believed that uploading the finished products to the StarNet would certainly pique the curiosity of countless people, attracting them to click open the 'JoJo' manga...
There are still too few Stand Users in this world; more companions are needed. (Confirmed)
However, all these beautiful concepts were based on Stelle successfully finishing the manga.
The process of Bai Luan recommending the "JoJo" series to Stelle went smoother than imagined. Stelle accepted the Recommendation almost at light speed.
According to her own words:
"With Uncle's Prophet attribute, if you say I will like it, then I definitely will."
See, the Prophet Persona is just easy to use.
There's no need to bother finding any excuses.
Watching Stelle enthusiastically prepare to start her manga journey, Bai Luan felt a little envious.
Being able to finish the eight currently completed works of JoJo in one go... that kind of unrestrained, uninterrupted binge-reading experience must be exhilarating.
At this moment, the four geniuses—Herta, Screwllum, Ruan Mei, and Bai Luan—gathered in Herta's Office to make the final preparations for Stelle's upcoming simulated universe test.
In the past, whenever it was time for Stelle to test the simulated universe, Bai Luan would find a suitable excuse to slip away.
The reason was simple: generally, the three geniuses would be present at such moments, and it was right before entering the simulated universe.
This specific combination of scenes easily triggered Bai Luan's PTSD of Grinding the simulated universe back in the Little Black Room.
Moreover, there was no better time than this to Slack Off.
The attention of the three geniuses would be firmly drawn to Stelle, who was testing the simulated universe; as long as he successfully slipped away, virtually no genius would come looking for him.
As long as he successfully slipped away, he could gain a period of perfect, undisturbed slacking time, lasting until Stelle finished testing.
This used to be Bai Luan's little scheme.
But this time, he failed to slip away successfully.
Because the core structure and most of the content of the gold and gears simulated universe dlc were primarily completed under Bai Luan's guidance.
Therefore, the task of thoroughly introducing the new mechanisms and gameplay of this dlc to Stelle naturally fell upon Bai Luan.
No one understood this dlc better than him.
This reason was too compelling—so compelling that Bai Luan racked his brains but couldn't find any reasonable excuse to escape.
He truly couldn't refute this point.
『The Boomerang that Bai Luan and Lars threw together back then is still gaining momentum, fiercely Elbowing Bai Luan』
『This truly is the Perfect Golden Spin』
Bai Luan selectively ignored the system's Sarcastic Remarks and, resignedly, began meticulously explaining the gameplay mechanics, core factions, and some Tricky Techniques of gold and gears to Stelle.
Stelle's learning ability was as formidable as ever; she quickly grasped the key points and entered the simulated universe, eager to begin testing.
During the period while Stelle was testing the simulated universe, Bai Luan unexpectedly discovered a benefit to staying put—
In crowded public settings, Herta seemed to restrain herself somewhat and would not use Ultimate move on him.
Fantastic!
He had been feeling that he was about to collapse under the increasingly frequent and forceful Move.
It had, to some extent, accelerated the process of improving his Herta Resistance.
Now, when facing some of Herta's regular rewards, such as suddenly leaning over for a kiss, he could accept them with comparative composure.
He could even... occasionally give a clumsy response.
Although usually, the moment he responded, Herta's next reward would immediately escalate, making him once again understand the meaning of "the path is one foot high, the devil is ten feet high"... *Cough, cough*, that's not important.
What was important was that his Herta Resistance was indeed steadily growing.
But all this increased resistance seemed so pale, weak, and vulnerable before that single phrase Words of love from Herta, which seemed to contain the power of rules.
Currently, it still maintained a 100% success rate, prevailing every time.
When it was time to be Super Broken, he would still instantly be knocked back to his original state, without any room for negotiation...
Bai Luan felt that Herta could rely on this move to beat him for life.
If using Stelle as a Human Shield could give him a moment to breathe and catch his breath in such a public setting... maybe that wasn't unacceptable?
This discovery made Bai Luan, who was forced to stay, feel slightly more balanced internally.
Facts proved that Bai Luan's conjecture was correct.
At least when there were many people around, Herta would not use such bold move on Bai Luan.
After confirming this point, Bai Luan was very happy to stay here and watch Stelle test the simulated universe.
Over the past few days, Bai Luan found that watching Stelle test the simulated universe wasn't boring after all.
Sometimes, after Stelle was disgusted by the Excessively High-Stat Monsters, she would complain about whether he had input the numbers using his feet, asking if it was even possible to win.
In response, Bai Luan flashed a happy smile.
The suffering I endured back then, Stelle, you won't miss a single bite of it.
Of course, Bai Luan would also speak up, offering her some Skill Guides to stabilize Stelle's mindset, making her feel capable again so she would run back to re-test the simulated universe.
Bai Luan did this partly because he found it quite amusing to watch Stelle repeatedly bounce between "This HP! These stats! No human can possibly beat this!" and "Huh, now that you mention it, maybe I can do it, I'll try one more run."
On the other hand, it was because he had a very realistic consideration—if Stelle truly had a mental breakdown and gave up testing, he wouldn't be able to find such a righteous reason to Solo-Defend against Herta's.
Over the past few days, Bai Luan had shown unprecedented enthusiasm for the simulated universe.
Even when the other three geniuses thought testing was mostly done for the day, he and Stelle were still tirelessly discussing Simulated Universe Strategies.
He was completely focused on how to help Stelle clear the stage, but not too quickly.
He failed to notice that Herta's gaze, resting on him not far behind, had begun to turn slightly subtle.
It carried a hint of amusement, and a hint of abnormality that suggested, "I think I caught you pretending to be busy."
...
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